[ASTalumna06]

Crashing...

Originally Posted by dnall

I respect that. That's a bad situation. I would have to reserve comment somewhat just because I'm not sure how exactly to overcome a stacked deck. No offense to TKE or the school in question or anyone else, but that's a big reason why my fraternity refuses to go to places like that. Even if you can get them off the ground, you're always going to be small, which equals broke, unstable, and struggling for survival. You can still have an exceptional greek experience in that environment, but it's hard to hold onto a chapter that way, much less get going. It's just not the optimal situation we would look for.

Way to be a Debbie Downer.

You make it sound as though his fraternity is “below” yours, and the national organization set them up for failure.

Purch, this is where that ‘glass half full’ stuff comes in handy. Don’t look at being a small chapter as a negative – make it work to your benefit. A few things to emphasize:

1) A close brotherhood. That’s not to say that larger chapters aren’t close, but SHOW people that you hang out together, eat together, study together, etc. Give them reason to believe that having 20 brothers instead of 100 is a plus.

2) Leadership opportunities. Because you’re in a smaller chapter, it gives more of your members the ability to take on leadership roles and join committees. Your members have more of a say in what happens with the chapter, and in which direction it will be heading.

3) The challenge. Some people love a challenge… they like working hard for something. Be humble, but not down on yourselves. Tell people that you’re trying to working hard to become a chapter and establish yourself on campus, and it may be a long road, but in the end it will be worth it.

If there’s nowhere for students to get information about your chapter… give it to them. And don’t just set up a table outside an eatery on campus… and don’t simply hand out pamphlets. Advertising isn’t just about making yourself visible, it’s about making yourself KNOWN. Formally request (through a nice, well thought out letter) that TKE be able to make short speeches/presentations at the beginning of different student organizations’ meetings. It doesn’t have to be anything extensive, just an introduction – making sure to mention the benefits of joining your fraternity over the others (without putting the others down, of course). Mention the points I outlined above, or any others you think of. This is your opportunity to show who you are, but also to compliment your audience… say how you’re looking for involved students who are dedicated to expanding and improving your chapter (in terms of brotherhood, GPA, involvement on campus, etc.) and you thought that this would be the place to look.

Also do this with the sororities. Sorority girls know guys on campus who aren’t in fraternities. Make the same presentation you did with the other organizations, but follow it up by saying, “If there are any men on campus that you believe would be interested in being involved with an organization such as this, we would greatly appreciate your help in bringing them to us..” (but make it sound less cult-like than that ). Hand out paper for all of the girls to write down names on, then contact these men.

Join other student organizations. It’s amazing how many people you can meet this way. Just be sure it’s not a chore for you. With guys, I usually suggest participating in intramurals.

Think outside the box. I know I’ve posted the video on Greekchat before, but I absolutely love these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QShPNcjgtfs

And here’s an article with some great ideas: http://www.phiredup.com/index.php?op...p=418&Itemid=2

On my campus, Theta Phi Alpha had an event every year called “Pie a Theta Phi” where you could pay a dollar to smash a whipped cream pie in a TPA’s face. What a great way to start a conversation, to laugh, and to have a good time with someone new!

If you DO set up a table, do something different. Example: You could have a sign that says “Are You Smarter than a TKE Brother?” and have little puzzles or random trivia questions that a brother and another person has to answer (shouldn’t take any more than a couple minutes), and you can give them candy or something small if they win. For the guys that participate, hand them info about your chapter. I saw something similar to this work wonders for a chapter on my campus years ago at the Student Organization Fair. While students strolled past the other fraternities’ and sororities’ tables, they all spent at least a few minutes at this one fraternity… even if only to look on while other students played games. This allowed the fraternity members to actually converse and interact with the students. The chapter didn’t display paddles or plaques; just a pamphlet that was optional to take, and a names list in order to request more information that no one was pressured into signing. Only a handful of the brothers wore letters, and they had just a fraternity banner hanging from the front of the table. Keep in mind that for potential members who know nothing about Greek life, the letters all look the same to them, and paddles have no meaning. What they’ll remember is a good conversation.

One more thing I’ll suggest you do at your next chapter meeting, and this one is simple – do the same thing I mentioned earlier with the sororities, but do it with your own chapter (obviously excluding the whole presentation part of it). At the end of the meeting, hand out a piece of paper to each of your members. Instruct them to write, as quickly as they can, the names of ALL of the men on campus they know who are not part of a Greek organization – their friends, roommates, guys in their dorm, fellow athletes, the guy who sits next to them in class, etc. When wondering who to invite to those 1-on-1 hang out sessions that excelblue mentioned, this is a great place from which to start pulling names.

I know this was a lot of info, but hopefully it helped!